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Chapter 1
Introduction- Nature of the Problem
Every year students enter kindergarten with varying ability levels and with an array of
educational backgrounds. While several students have attended a preschool or received some
form of...

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for poor school outcomes, not only because of language issues, but also because of
socioeconomic issues (Goldenberg, 2008). Most Hispanic Americans are characterized as
having low levels of educational success and high rates of poverty, and this...

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1995). These deficits may contribute to the fact that Hispanic students, with relatively few
exceptions, have had the highest high-school dropout rate of any group in the United States from
1972-2007. High School student dropouts from the low...

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In a research study conducted by O’Connor et al. (2000), a group of kindergarteners’
literacy progress was monitored and tracked over two years. During this time, students who
were considered “at-risk” were given four tiers of intervention. The...

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families who would like to send their children to preschool, the cost for private preschools is
often prohibitive, and there is not sufficient state or federal funding for government preschools.
Given the current educational status of Hispanic...

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irrelevant in overall student achievement. The only statistical significance was the impact that it
had on the level of teacher support that was given to students (Santi, York, Foorman, & Francis).
The same study also shows that:
Students who do...

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(a) the measures have the necessary psychometric characteristics for reliable and
valid measurement; (b) the measures are quick to administer and are thus feasible
for regular use in school settings; (c) the measures have multiple alternate...

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achievement in reading is higher at the end of the school year than it was at the beginning of the
year (Al Otaiba, Kosanovich-Grek, Torgesen, Hassler, & Wahl, 2005). One study shows that,
when using ability grouping for reading instruction,...

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reading achievement among children across most of the countries, and that higher economic
levels of a country were related to richer home-literacy environments, whereas lower economic
levels were associated with poorer home-literacy...

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that may be part of the problem” (para. 363). Research shows that educators are able to enhance
academic achievement (Condron) through ability grouping. This method is explained as “…the
process of teaching students in groups that are stratified...

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achievement is differentiated instruction. This takes place when the curriculum’s pacing, level,
and depth are modified to meet the unique demands of students (McCoach, O’Connell, & Levitt,
2006). According to Hall, Strangman, & Meyer (2003),...

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COURSES OF STUDY.
The Branch Normal offers the following courses:
(1) The regular four years course leading to a Normal certificate with the exception of the professional work of the fourth year which is...

17 STATE NORMAL SCHOOL.
COURSES OF STUDY.
The Branch Normal offers the following courses:
(1) The regular four years course leading to a Normal certificate with the exception of the professional work of the fourth year which...

17 STATE NORMAL SCHOOL.
COURSES OF STUDY.
The Branch Normal offers the following courses:
(1) The regular four years course leading to a Normal certificate with the exception of the professional work of the fourth year which is...

17 STATE NORMAL SCHOOL.
COURSES OF STUDY.
The Branch Normal offers the following courses:
(1) The regular four years' course leading to a Normal certificate with the exception of the professional work of the fourth year, which is...

17 STATE NORMAL SCHOOL.
elude a course in Domestic Science and Arts. It also affords an adequate preparation for college courses in Engineering and General Science.
(2) A four year Kindergarten course, except the professional subjects...

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programs need to be very high quality and aligned with high-quality kindergarten programs
(Mead, 2008). Another factor that has been identified as important to pre-kindergarten programs
is the teacher belief system (Lar-Cinisomo, Fuligni,...

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cognates is beneficial. All of these activities produce strong effects in mastery of targeted words,
and smaller, but significant gains in comprehension of the selected text (Goldenberg, 2008).
Other research supports the findings that...

19 STATE NORMAL SCHOOL.
COURSES OF STUDY.
The Branch Normal offers the following courses:
(1) The regular four years' course leading to a Normal certificate with the exception of the professional work of the fourth year, which is...